


Dragons Don't Wear Shoes

by CommonEvilMastermind



Series: Kid-Quisition [2]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Drabbles, Kid-fic, Kid-quisition, dad!solas, dragons don't wear shoes, intractable children, mom!josephine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-28
Updated: 2015-11-28
Packaged: 2018-05-03 17:50:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5300948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CommonEvilMastermind/pseuds/CommonEvilMastermind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Josephine thinks shoes are a good idea and Varian strongly disagrees.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dragons Don't Wear Shoes

**Author's Note:**

> Based on coffeependulum's Varian the Lonely Dragon! She is lovely!

  
Varian was cold.

Varian was _always_ cold.

“You could attempt to wear shoes,” Cassandra suggested wryly. Varian looked so horrified that she didn’t mention it again.

Josephine, however, jumped on the idea. She was positive that the cure for coldness was shoes. She chased Varian around all of Haven with the offending things until the small boy escaped by climbing the tallest pine tree he could find and staying there.

“Elves,” Josephine muttered darkly as she stomped her cold feet.

“Have very different circulatory systems than humans,” Solas said from behind her.

Josephine jumped, then pretended she didn’t. “Solas! I didn’t see you- I apologize, I meant no offense-“

“Children of any age can be intractable at times,” Solas said mildly. “Perhaps I can offer my assistance?”

“Please,” Josephine sighed. She had appointed herself de facto provider for Varian’s needs, and was finding it much more trying than she had anticipated.

“I am hypothesizing this may take a fair amount of time,” Solas said as Josephine suppressed a shiver. “Perhaps you would like to warm yourself in the Chantry?”

“As long as you promise to tell me if something works,” Josephine said darkly. She nodded her thanks at Solas, then turned and walked towards the warmth. She took the shoes with her.

Solas sat down at the base of the tree.

And he waited.

Solas was very good at waiting.

Varian, unsurprisingly, was not.

The tree rustled, and a pinecone fell on top of Solas’ bald head.

Solas did not react.

Another pinecone fell, striking the exact same spot. The child had remarkably good aim. Solas still did nothing. Then a third. The fourth lacked the power of the previous three, as Varian learned that this tactic would not get a reaction.

Solas waited.

The tree rustled softly as a small boy climbed down and fell a few feet to the ground in an undignified plop. Varian slowly approached Solas. Was the other elf asleep?

No, he was awake, and looking out at the camp. Varian cautiously sat down several feet from him. “Whatcha doin?”

“I was gauging the magical resonances inherent to this location.” At Varian’s blank stare, he simplified. “I was listening.”

“Oh.” Varian scooted a little closer. “To what?”

“The individual frequencies- to Haven. I was listening to Haven.”

“Oh.” Another little scoot. “What does Haven say?”

Solas smiled softly. “The Breach has caused a great deal of turbulence – like an enormous storm in the Fade. Now that it has been stabilized, some natural patterns are trying to reassert themselves. You can start to hear the things under the Breach.”

“You can?” Varian’s eyes got really big. “But it’s so loud!”

Solas looked down at his small companion. “Can you hear the Breach, da’len?”

Varian gave him a look. It was an impressive amount of scorn for such a small boy.

“Does it trouble you?” Solas asked.

Varian leaned against Solas’ shoulder, having somehow edged so close that he was very nearly in Solas’ lap. Solas thought for a second, then put his arm around the child.

“I don’t like sleeping,” Varian confessed. He shivered and Solas pulled him closer. “It’s really loud when I’m sleeping.”

“Do you have dreams?” Solas asked gently. Varian’s silence was all the confirmation he needed. “If you allow me, I can find you in your sleep, da’len. I can ward your dreams so they are not so loud.”

“You can?” Varian craned his head to meet Solas’ eyes. “Cause you’re magic?”

“In short, yes. With practice, you will be able to ward your own dreams. I believe you have a fair amount of magical aptitude as well.”

Varian thought, snuggling against Solas. “Mamae was magic,” he confessed. “But she died. And my family didn’t like magic, it made them sneeze.”

“Many elves are unfortunately biased against magical talent,” Solas said darkly. But Varian had stopped shivering.

“Not elves,” Varian said with exasperation. “My family.”

“Humans?” Solas was surprised. What humans would take in an elven child? Where were they?

“No,” Varian said, as if explaining to someone who was a little slow. “Wolves. My family.”

“You lived with wolves?” Solas blinked. “In the forest?”

Varian nodded. “They’re much cuddlier than people, so you don’t get cold. And their dens don’t have _drafts._ ” Varian was very scornful of the buildings in Haven. He went around shouting that wind was for outside, not in! It drove Josie to distraction.

“Solas?” Varian’s voice was very small. “Do you think they miss me?”                 

Solas smiled sadly, unconsciously shifting Varian so the boy was resting on his chest, his red curls tickling Solas’ chin. “I am sure they miss you very much, da’len.”

“I miss them too,” Varian confessed. They sat there together for a while without talking. Then it began to snow.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr at commonevilmastermind.tumblr.com. (You could talk to me here or there! I would love to talk to you!)


End file.
